The survey is the latest gloomy news for the auto industry in China.

这份调查报告是有关中国汽车业最新的负面消息。

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That trend spells bad news for auto makers who have been able to rely on the fat profit margins of luxury brands to offset plunging sales of mass-market vehicles with razor-thin margins.

对于那些一直依赖豪华车的丰厚利润来弥补微利的普及车型的制造商来说，这一趋势实在是个坏消息。

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The global auto market 'appears to not have reached the bottom yet,' VW Chief Financial Officer Hans Dieter Poetsch said at a news conference.

大众汽车首席财务长鲍彻(Hans Dieter Poetsch)在一个新闻发布会上指出，全球汽车市场似乎还没触底。

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In somewhat related auto news, December auto sales indicated the strongest year for vehicle sales since 2007, with estimates now at 14.5 million units.

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While sluggish sales are bad news for the auto and machinery industries, they are good news for inflation, which has been climbing steadily since August, 2009, reaching 5.5 percent in May, its highest level in three years.

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Early in November, CNBC broke the news that Advanced Auto Parts had hired an investment banker to sell itself, but by the end of the month news leaked that the sale was faltering and KKR was the only PE suitor hanging around.

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